Top 10 Tasty Adventures in 2013

As the year 2013 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on all of its happenings.  And for Who Eats Better? it’s a mouthwatering time to graze over the most delicious, most terrifying, and most interesting topics of 2013.  Here are my Top 10 Tasty Adventures in 2013: remember the episodes previously aired on Who Eats Better? and enjoy several new experiences and photos never before posted!

10. HollyFood

I have always been a huge movie buff; this year I got really into baking.  Combine the two pleasures and you will find many treats inspired by Hollywood. 

Clockwise from top left: The Game of Thrones birthday cake, Spiderman and Iron Man cupcakes, The Walking Dead pastry "intestines" and "brain" cupcakes, and the Jurassic Park logo of candy.

9. A Comic-Cook-Book

One of my very first posts inspired by my favorite food blogger, Adam Roberts of Amateur Gourmet.  View the full graphic novella here.

8. Monday Night Dinner

It’s hard to believe I’ve never written a specific post about Monday Night Dinner (MND) before because it was a significant tradition that spanned over more than two years of my time in Boulder, CO.   Almost every Monday night in my Boulder history, the MND crew took turns hosting each other for new recipes or old favorites, but most importantly, developing some of the most memorable episodes and significant friendships of my life.

7. Bill Clinton’s Mexican Platter

While visiting my grandparents in Tucson, AZ with my youngest brother Drew, we paid a visit to a famous Mexican restaurant featured on one of my favorite shows, Man vs. Food.  Mi Nidito has had its fair share of celebrities, but the reason for our trip was Bill Clinton.  He visited in 1989.  Being a huge fan of Mexican food, he couldn’t choose just one delicious menu item, so he ordered one of everything: bean tostado, beef taco, chile relleno, chicken enchilada, and beef tamale.  That doesn’t count the unlimited supply of chips and salsa.  Since that day, the restaurant has been serving Bill’s personal platter, and in June, 2013, Drew and I conquered it all.

6. Boulder Brewery Bouncing

One day: nine breweries.  Go!  Read the full story here.

5. Hawaii

This past spring I visited my best friend from college, Rachel, and her family while they were living in Hawaii.  It was an amazing trip!  Read about my most "onolicious" foods here. 

4. Vegan Challenge

My 30-day vegan challenge was one of the most stimulating parts of this blog’s year.  It inspired a lot of creative writing, and the series are some of the most liked and commented on posts of WEB?.  The post, "Vegan Challenge: The Dreaded Dinner Party" wins the award for Most Liked Post in 2013!

3. Korean Sannakji

“As long as you chew, it won’t get stuck.”  Watch the full video of me trying live octopus here.

2. Korean Fish Market

How often do you get to meet the animal before it ends up on your plate?  In the coastal city of Sokcho, Korea, I visited a fish market and actually chose an oblivious swimming fish to be immediately prepared and served sashimi style.  I said a sacrificial prayer as the fresh meat melted in my mouth.  It was an alarming and delectable experience.

1. The Inception of Who Eats Better?

It seems ages ago now, but it was only this year that WEB? was born on March 8^th.  Maintaining a blog has proved challenging, but satisfying to the mind, and of course, the stomach!  My inaugural post “When do we eat?” wins the award for Most Viewed Post in 2013.  Auld lang syne, 2013, and cheers to 2014!  Happy New Year!

In case you missed the links above, check out some of the best from 2013:

"Boulder Brewery Bouncing" - one day, nine breweries
"Braaains! And Cupcakes" - The Walking Dead themed post
"Dinner: It's Only Mostly Dead" - trying live octopus
"Simply Aloha" - a delicious Hawaiian getaway
"Must Go Faster!" - Jurassic Park candied logo
"Vegan Challenge: Cold Tofurky" - the first of the series
"Vegan Challenge: The Dreaded Dinner Party" - Most Liked in 2013
"When do we eat?" - Most Viewed in 2013

Christmas in Korea, Featuring Germany and Belgium

With this being my first Christmas away from home, and in a country so far away, I've been feeling a surplus of Christmas spirit with very little outlet.  So I decided to bring an American Christmas to Korea.  I wanted to gift my Korean co-workers and friends with something "über" traditional to my home country.  I had no idea how ironic my use of the German word "über" would be...

My first thought: candy canes!  What is more iconic to the jolly holiday than those adorable peppermint sticks.  My goal was to find them aplenty and adorn them with googly eyes and pipe cleaners to resemble our red-nosed friend, Rudolph.  Don't you remember making these as a kid?  Or receiving one every year from your kin?  

In Korea, candy canes are a rare commodity, even around Christmastime.  It was at this time that I learned exactly what Christmas means in Korea, according to a few local friends.

Christmas is a fairly new holiday to the country and pretty much everything they've adopted as Christmas culture comes from the USA.  Christmas cards are in English, American holiday classics are their song choices, and even the Korean translation of "Merry Christmas" is pronounced "Mae-ree-kuh-ri-se-mes-eh."  Did you hear it?  

Even more interesting, I learned there are three main collectives that celebrate Christmas in Korea.  There are Christians who celebrate Christmas by attending a church service on Christmas day.  There are parents who have young children with the blissful belief in Santa Claus.  And then there are unmarried couples, who this holiday seems to favor the most.  On Christmas day, Korea more resembles an American Valentine's Day.  Couples go out for dinner and give each other doe eyes as they exchange chocolate and cute presents.  (Side note: in Korea, gifting a significant other shoes before marriage is believed to cause a quick end to the relationship.)

Let's return to the candy canes: my hunt was short lived.  I found them at a bakery for $2 a cane and, let's be honest, they're not that good.  It was back to the drawing board.  

After a much appreciated care package from the USA, I quickly remembered the three C's of Christmas: cookies, candy, and cocktails!  However, let's keep it clean and say hot chocolate.  And what is more American than melting marshmallows in your hot cocoa?  Like the candy canes, I was sending myself on a wild goose chase, but this time I prevailed!  These might be the most American 'mallows I've ever seen.  

These cookies, on the other hand, are less American, but the gingerbread men and other Christmas impressions still did the trick.  

Now, do you remember my choice of wording with an "über" traditional gift and my insinuation to its irony?  Here's where that comes in.  I had two C's left on my wish list: hot cocoa and candy.  I went to a large "everything" store in Seoul called E-mart.  Wal-mart's cousin?  Most likely.  First I found this classy "hot choco" imported from Belgium.  

Then I snagged these jolly guys who I can only guess traveled from Germany.  

The best way to tie the whole ensemble together: a seasonal mug.  

As I delivered these to the various desks and offices, I labeled them as a "traditional American Christmas gift."  Little did they know (or maybe they totally knew) that only 20% of the gift could actually claim American citizenship.  But hey, it's the thought that counts.  

Merry Christmas!

Bibimbap for the King...and Michael Jackson

Food has always been an extremely important piece of Korean culture.  For the kings of the Joseon dynasty beginning in the 1300's, food was as precious as gold.  The royal dishes, called "sura", were made by the most skillful cooks using only the best seasonal ingredients selected from every available source in the country.  Kings usually dined on three square meals a day, each with 9-12 side dishes!  Here is a replica of how a typical table appeared at mealtime in the palace.  It's good to be the king, eh?

Replicas of a king's table during the Joseon dynasty; he even got dessert!

I was fortunate enough to attend a cooking class in the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace.  On the menu was "goldongban" more commonly known as "bibimbap", which means "mixed rice."  There are many variations of this dish, but we concentrated on the more traditional one (and randomly enough, Michael Jackson's favorite according to the class's head chef), involving minced beef and shiitake mushrooms.  Here are some pictures of our personal "suragan", meaning "royal kitchen."

Clockwise from top left: the instructional station with a closeup view of the action on the TV; our group cooking station; the lovely recipe; Korean women frying up fish fillets.

Behold the magical foods!

The most interesting thing about Korean dishes is the significance of all its components.  Koreans have a strong belief in the holistic power of food.  Good food is the best medicine.   Ancient Koreans actually believed that certain food had healing powers and could cure even the worst diseases.  While not as extreme today, there are many foods that hold a distinct purpose.  Some of our ingredients in the cooking class including shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, and Chinese bell flowers held the secrets to warding off cancer, relieving a hangover, and soothing a sore throat, respectively.  

My universally balanced bibimbap.

Another integral part of any Korean dish is the color.  The importance of colors spawns from the belief that a person's body is only healthy when its yin and yang are in balance with the five elements that make up the universe.  Not only visually appealing, the food's colors are these five elements' representation: red, green, black, white and yellow.  You can see in the bibimbap that we made in the class, each color is made prominent by the cucumbers (green), fern brackens (black), Chinese bell flowers (white), fried fish fillets (yellow), and red pepper paste (red).  

Professionally-made bibimbap

In most traditional bibimbap, the color yellow is represented with a raw egg.  Cooked and served in a scorching iron bowl, the hot rice cooks the egg as you mix all the ingredients together.  The presentation is almost too beautiful to eat! 

The cooking class was a great success.  Not only did I eat some delicious food, but I learned the care and love that goes into making Korean food.  Several Korean women were frying the fish fillets as we entered and the fern brackens had been soaking in salt water for days.  There are very specific techniques in cooking and preparing each ingredient, and they made sure we were doing it just so.  It was quite a delicious learning experience!  

Here I am with my group at our cooking station.